Along the Parkway

After the rain Wednesday, heading back from Asheville.
Mt. Pisgah:
Looking Glass Rock:
Near Devil's Courthouse:
Turk's Cap lilies:
Scarlet bee balm:

Smoky mts:
Foggy Nantahala River:

A little bit of downtown Asheville

Battery Park Hotel and Grove Arcade
Inside the Arcade.
Nearby antique shop.


The Griffons have names. This one is 'Roger'.

Summer scenes

Rhododendron.
Just over the Tennessee line, near Turtletown.
Apalachia Dam,
and the tube carrying the Hiwassee River from the dam to the powerhouse a few miles below.
Violet, NC.
Honeysuckle
It's blackberry time.

Forest roads

Along North Shoal Creek.


Along Shulers Creek.


New ride.

Rain!

You may wonder why I've been posting rain photos recently, but we've had so little that a day like today, with hours of rain, is a real blessing.

Bee balm and the first lily.
Sunset the other night when it didn't rain, just threatened for awhile.

Road race

Did you see this car, yesterday, passing Murphy? I did, or at least one that looked like this, driving west on highway 64/74 yesterday afternoon. In the short time we waited to cross the highway near Ranger we saw three unique old roadsters, heading west.

Turns out it was the Great Race, which covered roads between Spartanburg and Chattanooga yesterday, with a lunch stop at Maggie Valley. Wish I'd known about this event sooner...might have been worth a drive to Chattanooga to watch all the cars arrive. Schedule here. More pictures and video. And here, from the Times Free Press.
(Photo from the Great Race Flickr gallery)

Longest days

These wildflowers along the driveway get a little better every year. Did someone plant them? The coneflowers (in front) are just starting to open.

Still dry, but at least we've been having afternoon thunderstorms this week. The last sunset light -- such as it was after this rain -- is in the NNW, where the setting sun actually faces the front deck of our house for a couple weeks a year.

Hollyhocks

Reliance, TN

Follow the Hiwassee down a few miles from the powerhouse and put-in and you get to Reliance, where you can rent a raft, kayak, or catch a ride up the river.

It's pretty idyllic here, with one store, cabins and campground spaces to rent.
If you were here in the mornings the excursion train from Etowah comes by, there's a great view of it; the rail bridge passes over one of the rafting landings.

On the Hiwassee River

View of the Hiwassee from the Big Bend.
Lots of water has been released for the rafting crowds. Does this mean the lakes above will be even lower?
Nice way to spend Father's Day....
...or this way.
The Apalachia Powerhouse and swinging bridge.

Putting in.

Clematis

AT hikers

Don't miss this great feature from the Knoxville News: a News photographer set up a makeshift studio where the Appalachian Trail crosses Davenport Gap coming out of the Smokies, and photographed hikers as they came out of the woods (in exchange for food). Lovely stuff, and their stories remind of Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.

At least it rained...some

Friday's storms brought the first rain in a long time, and may be the last for awhile. It was pretty impressive, though:
Even the turtle wanted out of the rain.

Photos from Valle Crucis

Don't miss the two latest photos posted by Marie on Blue Ridge Blog. The deck scene, done in HDR, is fantastic. But so is the Watauga River photo.
I haven't taken any this week so far, so you'll need to visit Marie for a photo fix. Besides, hers are always better.

On Hiwassee Lake

Lots of weekend boaters.

Another church

Near Apalachia Lake. Empty except for occasional reunion; the door is open and someone's left donations.